This is a must read for all who seek to get the full perspective of what happened during the Biafra War (along with all the other books on the war. Not only men were involved in it, children, women and men were. And Emecheta finally gave a female perspective. Destination Biafra is frank, hard-hitting and much needed. It's also a great read.

Divine Inspiration is an unusual coffee table book because the pictures do tell a thousand words, and because the text is helpful and interesting, not just filler. It is a good, respectful introduction to the Yoruba religion and its many offspring in the Americas.

A brilliant comparative study of tribal politics in Kenya and Nigeria, and the rest of Africa. Also a probing analysis of the tragic failure of the multiparty system in Africa's ethnically divided countries.

It is also an equally impressive critique of the one-party system, although not as detailed, probably because the author's focus is on the divisive nature of multiparty politics in Africa's multiethnic societies.

Highly recommended for scholars and members of the general public interested in comparative study and African affairs.

Every now and then the world's attention is drawn to a strange figure in the world of arts, a figure who "doesn't belong", who has not paid the proper dues and hasn't struggled up through the usual channels. No, that person suddenly rockets into the artistic firmament, does things in a totally unconventional way, and is immediately pounced upon and torn apart by those who have studied, worked, and sweated, dreaming of brilliant success. I think of somebody like Grandma Moses, who didn't start to paint until she was 78 and never attended a single art class, didn't know about a single "artistic convention", yet became one of the most popular American artists ever. The critics rewarded her by calling her "primitive". Yeah, right. Then, there was Niko Pirosmanishvili, a Georgian painter, who died in obscure poverty in 1918, having painted startlingly original images on any material he could get his hands on. The title "primitive" was bestowed on him also. Right here in my home town we had J.O.J. Frost, who painted scenes of the Marblehead he'd known as a child and events in the town's history. He painted on odd boards and tried, unsuccessfully, to sell his works for a nickel or a dime. After he died, he was recognized as a true artist and today his works are in New York and Washington. You can't get hold of one for love or less than a huge amount of money. A primitive. Amos Tutuola is a member of this little band, an original, a genius, a man who had no training, but just wanted to tell a lot of stories. If he'd written them in Yoruba, his mother tongue, we would never have heard his name. He wrote them in English, an English suffused with the tones and twists of West Africa. And guess what. Some African critics even felt ashamed of Tutuola's work, as it was not modern or European enough for them. Too primitive, right ? That word again. OK, for sure he doesn't write as smoothly as Hemingway or Turgenev; his grammar and spelling may leave something to be desired. But for those people who have not read Tutuola---don't miss your chance. If you love a story, if you love color and imagination, if you could like tales full of witches, magic, devils, and strange towns, if you are not totally wedded to the literary conventions set down by the critics, by the English departments of the world, then read Tutuola. "The Palm Wine Drinkard", "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", or FEATHER WOMAN OF THE JUNGLE---all are great.

Tutuola's stories certainly do have connections to local Nigerian myths, traditional stories told for centuries. I will leave structural analysis to those so inclined. Unless you are familiar with the myths, though, everything will seem new. It seemed to me as I read through the account of six fabulous journeys that Tutuola's imagination had been fired by the cinema, both American and Indian. When mixed with the Yoruba tales, you certainly do have a fantastic result. If you are only interested in conventional novels, probably you'd better skip this book, but if you like Grandma Moses, if you like works by anyone who just fires away regardless of what critics say, then you're going to love FEATHER WOMAN OF THE JUNGLE. Original. Imaginative. Outstanding.

In Federalism And Ethnic Conflict In Nigeria, Rotimi Suberu provides informative insights into Nigeria's strife ridden post-colonial history and its Federal political structure. A compelling analysis is given for the Nigerian system that has given rise to rampant corruption and social fragmentation. After a clear and illuminating historical and ethnopolitical survey, Suberu offers significant constitutional reforms that if adopted would lead to institutional innovations in Nigerian federalism that would successfully address the nation's demographic and ethnopolitical complexities as they exist between its Muslim and Christian populations. Federalism And Ethnic Conflict In Nigeria is significant and important reading for Nigerian studies reference collections and reading lists.

Dr. Wall combines a scholarly survey with an approachable writing style. Where else can one find the combination of a Rhodes Scholar anthroplogist and a world-class academic physician as the author of such a work?

Hausa traditional medical practices are of tremendous import to millions in West Africa. Anyone involved in medical care in West Africa should read this book.

A long-running debate in the study of 20th Century African history has been whether there really was any substantive difference between French "direct" rule and British "indirect" rule in the colonial era. Miles gives us a new perspective by focusing on the contemporary differences between two neighboring Hausa-speaking communities -- one in Niger (formerly a French Colony) and one in Nigeria (formerly under British rule). By examining not only conteporary conditions but also the memories of the respective inhabitants, Mile's careful study provides scholars and interested readers with an insightful perspective into the impact of the past on the present. Well-written accessible, and smart.

This work by Karin Barber focuses on the Oriki (Praise-poetry or nominal laudatory forms)primarily using Okuku as her field site. The book is an excellent piece of literary and ethnographic composition, articulate, well-structured and critically provides the analysis of social systems and literary forms. It waives various genre of a complex character into readable and analytic form. This book articulates, not just the Yoruba world, but has far-reaching significance for the understanding of African oral and poetic forms, ritual practices, social structuring, literary constructions that are naturally alien and hidden from the view of many scholarly discourses. This work, if understood properly, provides a vital link toward understanding certain salient themes that exists in African religions, rituals, poetry and social structures, and the reasons for the formation and non-formation of these forms among people of the African diaspora in Cuba, Brazil, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and other such places. It relates the documentation of poetry flexible form of collective memory as constituting continuity and discontinuity; as enduring texts of social retention and heuristic construction of meaning, and history.
A critical distillation of this work would adequately provide valuable insights as to the reasons why many African religions retained some elements of their African identity and past within their existential contemporary corpus of thought while lossing others. It answers such questions, even though not explicitly, why some of these forms are visibly present for instance more in Cuba than in the USA, while also indicating the reasons why the Cuban assertion of Yoruba culture and religion (Santeria) are remarkably similar and also critically different. The answer as can be glimpsed from this is within the very thought and social expression of reality by the Yoruba, even prior to slavery. Social forms are both continuous and discreet.
Karin Barber, work is in deed a master piece, whose influence transcends even the structure and strictures of African society, but has eternal relevance for the understanding of the construction of history and identity among people of oral culture.
This work is clearly written,articulately presented and the mass of seemingly complex materials perfectly integrated that it constitutes meaning and understanding. Karin Barber's effort can only be undone by very few scholars, Karin has shown through this work her genius and has established a fame, among writers writing about non-western cultures, presenting these cultures without super-imposing their cultural strictures and mode of biases arbitrarily upon such texts.
This book is a must for all who intend to understand the Yoruba world, African poetic form and the entire expression of orality as myth, history and social construction. Such a work as this is rare, and it is advantageous to acquint oneself with its content.
Tolle Lege!!! (Take and Read!)

Nice collection of up to date information on Nigeria. I would suggest getting this a few weeks before your trip so you can digest it and act on some of the tips. The money was well spent to have all this very practical information at your fingertips.

"Who is the greatest?" is a wonderfully crafted tale of the battle of natures' elements. The story illustrates the true beauty of such powerful elements of nature; fire, wind and rain. The author, perhaps unknowingly, provides a wonderful affirmation, that in nature, as in life, the race isn't always won by the strongest or swiftest; that one can be gentle, yet strong.

The illustrations are superb. Representing the elements as people is a brilliant touch...visual personification, if you will. The marble blending of colors is a perfect way to represent nature, with all of the elements existing in harmony. "Who is The Greatest?" is a beautiful addition to any public library or personal collection and a must have for all who work with children.

Share the wonder of nature with the children in your lives. This book is the perfect place to start.